It has been quite a week here on this blog and many Latino blogs all over the Internet. CNN has achieved its objective: generate interest and buzz about Latino in America. Well, we think they got it and more (but not the ratings), for good reasons and bad ones. Here are just a few examples:
1. The Basta Dobbs movement has garnered some incredible national attention this week, with articles such as the The New York Times, and it seems that CNN doesn’t know what to do about it. It has led to a debate that doesn’t appear to disappear as much as Time-Warner would like it to, and there is a growing feeling from many that CNN was trying to do a “double-switch” here: that is, let’s give Latinos a glossy series about themselves, but try to sweep Dobbs under the rug. We think this trend and story won’t go away with Twitter and Facebook (it has gone viral and it has grown). See for yourself and decide.
2. Another bigger issue is how much debate has been on Twitter regarding Latino in America, from both sides of the argument. As with any review of the show (and our review was that the show was incredibly uneven in trying to portray a more complete picture of the Latino community in America), the streams, tweets, and updates were all over the place. We do think that this interest and activity on social media networks only generated a need, a desire by many to tell their own stories, which is why Latino Success Stories was formed. We do want to respond to a few things about this blog post:
We at no point think that what CNN showed (real issues of immigration, youth, racism, hate crimes) was not newsworthy. What we take issue with (and what so many others took issue with) was that this was a lost opportunity by an influential news giant to present a more balanced view of the complexities of being Latino in America. That is all. That is why we told ourselves, if CNN won’t do it, then we will use social media to spread the word and tell people to share their stories with others. WE will balance the coverage, we will try to celebrate people who battle all the issues that would keep people down and in fact, overcame them.
Unlike CNN, we will welcome dissenting opinions about this issue, but we do find it strange that CNN is trying to downplay both the Dobbs issue and that fact that “Latino in America” really didn’t satisfy all its viewers. It is safe to say that even though we admire the attempt by Soledad O’Brien and CNN to try and present a 4-hour news program about Latinos in the US, we feel that the feelings of frustration, anger, and sadness from Latinos who saw the show are just as valid as the feelings of pride and joy that others are feeling.
That is why we are doing it and that is why we will continue to do so. And we will ALWAYS present any information from anyone on our site, since if you think we only have the mainstream media to share our views, ideas, stories, opinions, then you don’t know the power of social media.
YOU ARE THE POWER! That is what social media is about. Don’t rely on the mainstream media to tell your story. Tell it yourself and shout it out from the rooftoops.
Franky Benítez 
Clear and cogent analysis is needed and you came through! Dissent, discussion, and logical thinking about the ENTIRE picture is necessary for progress and we are on a roll! The false image of one dimensional Latino, or the Latina that is pregnant at 15, or the gangster,etc is not the entire picture. Sure these problems exist, but that is not in the stilted manner in which they are often portrayed. Thanks for your great post hermano!
We agree 100%
I found out from an inside source I know that works at CNN that they are going through a serious identity crisis right now while losing market share to Fox News and MSNBC, apparently for not following the same formula as their competition. Unfortunately, CNN is losing market share to networks that are leaning their editorial lines to the extremes (Fox News to the right and MSNBC to the left). Also, on HLN, the most highly rated shows are those that are based on sensationalism. In other words, quality, balanced reporting and journalism is disappearing, because after all, the public is choosing to for sensational-type journalism and extremisms. CNN is feeling the pressure to air more of the Lou Dobbs-types because of this, and after all, they respond to their shareholders. Many inside CNN believe in quality journalism but when ratings go down and sensational journalism shows result higher ratings, this leads into the “it seems that CNN doesn’t know what to do about it” syndrome on the BastaDobbs movement.
BBC doesn’t have this problem because it is subsidized by the UK Government, but when you have to answer to shareholders for declining ad revenue while your competition’s is increasing, it’s a tough decision to make.
If I were the CEO of CNN, I would mount an aggressive attack on their competition (you can do that only when you lose the #1 position) to attract centrist viewers (which I believe are the majority) and reject extremism. Something centered around attacking extremist/sensationalist journalism, and conveying “quality reporting without the bias”. In other words, if you want to hear both sides of the story to reach your own conclusions, watch them. If you are into having others reach conclusions for you, watch the others.
This may have had an effect on Soledad’s show to the detriment of putting out a balanced story in the place of a more sensational, supposedly interesting story.
Makes sense to us, querido primo.